Reunion
by Wohitzi
Summary: Sakura proves to Sasuke just how strong she's become. SasuSaku -Old fic. It sucks-
1. Chapter 1

Sakura was finding it difficult to focus as she headed toward the coordinates Tsunade had given her. They were supposed to lead her to Sasuke, and she was starting to doubt that he'd be there. After all, it wouldn't be the first time she'd arrive at her destination, only to discover that her target was no longer there.

Sakura quickly shook the worrisome thoughts from her head. She had to focus. Her objective was to use the element of surprise to her advantage and land at least one good hit on Sasuke. That's all she needed.

" I'll prove to him that I'm not the weak little girl he knew two-and-a-half years ago." Sakura thought, determination pushing her to go faster.

As she neared her destination, Sakura slowed, trying to think of the past way to attack. But before she could decide, she saw Sasuke.

And she lunged.

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Sasuke watched in amusement as his ex-comrade charged at him. He lazily put out his hand to catch the oncoming punch, only to discover just how strong the young woman had become. When her fist made contact with his hand, he found the force was too strong for him to stop. So strong that he soon found himself flying backward into the rocks of a cliff that loomed above them.

Sasuke slowly tried to push himself out of the small indentation his body had made in the rock face. In doing so, he discovered that moving his right arm even the slightest bit caused excruciating pain.

" She must have broken a few bones. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she _crushed_ my bones." Sasuke mused as he stood up, finding his back also hurt, though, it was more likely bruised than broken.

Sasuke began evaluating his current situation. He was injured and couldn't move one of his arms, thus making him unable to form hand-seals. His opponent, on the other hand, was completely unscathed and appeared to have exerted little effort in her attack.

Sasuke smirked. This was going to be interesting.

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_Author Notes: Yeah, I got bored and wrote this. This is my first Naruto fic, and my second fic overall. No, I will not continue this, because I suck at action scenes, and am way to lazy anyway. What happens next is for your crazy little imaginations to decide._

Disclamer: Yup, that's right, I'm Masashi Kishimoto, living out the dreams I have for a series I already have complete control over in fanfiction.

No? Okay, I don't own anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke stirred quietly, awakening from his sleep. _'What happened to me?'_ he wondered, only to be bombarded by memories of the previous battle. 'Right. Sakura had attacked him and broken his arm.

'She's gotten a lot stronger…' he thought, still amazed at how strong that single punch had been.

Moments after Sakura's attack assault, Naruto, Kakashi, and two other people whom Sasuke didn't know had arrived to help Sakura. Naruto had attacked him with rasengan (but it wasn't the rasengan he remembered. No, it was very different), and thanks to his inability to move his right arm, Sasuke couldn't use any jutsu to defend himself from the attack. Not that it would've mattered, since as soon as he focused his attention on Naruto, the other four would've ambushed him.

Sasuke couldn't remember much after Naruto's attack. Except for pain. He could remember plenty of pain. Speaking of pain, why didn't anything hurt anymore? Actually where was he?

Slowly, he began to open his eyes, blinking several times at the sting of the light. From across the room, he heard a cheerful voice say " Oh! You're awake!" Sasuke turned his head, and saw a smiling Sakura walking toward him.

" How did you find me?" he asked, surprised when his voice came out sounding raspy and unused. _' How long have I been asleep?'_

" Konoha and its allies have been sending out scouts to look for you and other missing-nin," Sakura began to explain, sitting in a chair beside his bed, " When a scout team came back with news of where you were, Tsunade-sama immediately sent me and the others out to get you. After we knocked you unconscious, we brought you to here, to Konoha's best hospital, and had Tsunade-sama heal all your injuries."

' _That explains the lack of pain.'_ Sasuke thought, then asked, " Hoe long have I been here?"

" Well, Tsunade-sama gave you some medication that forced you into a temporary coma, so she and the village counsel can discuss what your punishment will be for leaving Konoha and working with an S-rank criminal," Sakura replied. Then she got a surprised expression on her face and exclaimed, " Oh! Your probably hungry after being unconscious for nearly a month!" Then she rushed over to the doorway. She opened it and called to a nurse in the hall, " Hey, Naoru-san! Could you bring some lunch for my patient?" The nurse said something, and then Sakura closed the door and walked back over to Sasuke's bed, sitting on the chair once more.

The pair sat in silence, and Sasuke began to examine the room he was in. There was no window; a window was a very easy way of escape that even an academy student would have no trouble with. There was only one door, it did not have a window either and appeared to be made of a very durable metal. The only things in the room were the bed he laid on, some standard medical equipment, and the chair Sakura sat on. It may as well have been a prison.

After several minutes of silence, the nurse returned with a lunch tray. Sakura took the tray and thanked the nurse, then handed the tray to Sasuke. On the tray were a bowl of plain rice and a paper cup filled with water. Picking up his chopsticks, Sasuke slowing began eating.

There was a knock on the door, and Sakura walked over to it for the third time in fifteen minutes. She opened the door and behind it stood Tsunade and Shizune. Tsunade asked to speak to Sakura in private, and the two of them walked out into the hallway, leaving Shizune to watch Sasuke.

Sasuke stopped eating and tried to listen to the conversation outside the room. The voices were inaudibly quiet, so he returned to eating his meal, though much slower that before. After several minutes of hushed talking, Sakura returned to the room and the other women left.

Tsunade and the village counsel have finally come to an agreement on your punishment," Sakura told him, appearing quite relieved, " They've decided against the death sentence and instead chose to put you on probation. You won't be allowed to leave the village or have missions of any rank for the next three years. And, for the next year or so, you'll be under constant supervision and share an apartment with Naruto. You'll also have to wear a device that prevents you from using chakra." Sakura paused in her explanation to let the information sink in.

' _Apartment with Naruto? Chakra controlling device? No missions? Apartment with Naruto?!' _Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. But, he really couldn't blame them. If anything, the Hokage was being extremely light with her punishment. If he'd betrayed Orochimaru's village, he would've gotten the death sentence, no questions asked.

Feeling she'd given a sufficient amount of time to let the information process, Sakura continued, her expression darkening, " But, if you don't co-operate and follow the rules that have been set for you, you'll be thrown in Konoha's highest security prison. Further difficulty, and you'll be given the death sentence. But, if you're well behaved, your punishment might be lightened!" With that said, Sakura left the room, another nurse coming in to take over her shift.

Sasuke set his food tray on the chair beside his bed. He'd lost his appetite. Lying down, he pondered what he'd been told. Three years before he could go after Itachi. It was almost enough to drive him insane. While Itachi continued to grow stronger, he'd be stuck here, doing nothing. Ridiculous.

On the last though, Sasuke slowly began to fall back asleep. Despite having slept for nearly a month, he was still tired. Maybe it was the shock. He wasn't sure. All he knew was that the peaceful obliviousness of the dream world was very welcoming at the moment.

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Author's Note: _Yeah, I decided to continue after all. And I did it without writing an action scene! Anyway, not sure if this is in character or not... I might write another chapter later..._

_Notice how in my profile, I say I'm not going to write chapter stories, but now I am?_

Disclaimer: Nope don't own the series. Sorry. If I did, Sakura would've already kicked Sasuke's ass and dragged him back to Konoha.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke stayed in the hospital for another week before finally being released and sent to his apartment with Naruto. During that week he'd had a few visits from Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura, but the one who'd visited him the most was Naruto. After the first few visits, Sasuke quickly began to realize that Naruto hadn't changed much in nearly three years. He also learned that the loud-mouthed ninja was possibly more loud-mouthed and talkative than before. 

In fact, Naruto talked during the entire walk to their apartment and still didn't stop once they got there. He talked so much; Sasuke was amazed he didn't choke on his own tongue or accidentally bite it off.

Now, Sasuke was lying on the couch trying to drown out Naruto's incessant chatter and contemplating jumping out the living room window.

" Hey, Sasuke! You should've seen the look on your face when Sakura hit you! Your eyes looked they were gonna pop outta your head!" Naruto called from across the room in the kitchen area.

On second thought, maybe he'd throw Naruto out the window instead.

Thankfully, moments later a knock on the door ceased Naruto's babbling, as he quickly ran to answer the door.

" Sakura-chan! Hey, Sasuke, Sakura-chan's here!" Naruto called, but before he could get into another long-winded rant, Sakura interrupted him.

" Actually," She said, looking rather nervous," I'm here as a messenger. Tsunade would like to speak with Sasuke. You can come too, if you'd like."

Sasuke sighed. What, had they decided to change his punishment? Throw him in jail? Begrudgingly, he got off the couch and followed the two out of the apartment.

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In Tsunade's office the trio sat in silence, waiting to hear what the Hokage wanted to say to Sasuke. Tsunade sat with her elbows on top of her desk and her hands clasped together in front of her. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be in deep thought.

Finally, with her eyes still closed, Tsunade began speaking," Team 8 and a few ANBU operatives were sent on a mission four weeks ago."

' _How does this apply to me?'_ Sasuke wondered, though not out loud_. ' Why should I care about what missions they went on?'_ But inside he had a strange sinking feeling.

" Their mission was to go after two Akatsuki members and either capture or kill them." She paused and took a sip from her bottle of sake, then continued, " The team found and confronted the two missing-nin. In the battle that ensued one of the Akatsuki members was killed, while the other managed to escape. Konoha's squad sent home the wounded with the dead man's body, and pursued the second man. The man was injured and had used a lot of chakra, so the remainder of the squad managed to catch up with him in a day. This morning, the squad returned with the results of their mission." Tsunade was quiet for a moment before finally saying," They killed both Akatsuki members. The men's names were Hoshigaki Kisame, and Uchiha Itachi."

Sasuke sat silently for a few moments, not quite registering what had been said. He found his voice and managed to make himself say," What?"

" Your brother, Uchiha Itachi, is dead." Tsunade said bluntly." You and Naruto may return home."

After the abrupt dismissal, Sasuke returned to his and Naruto's apartment in a daze. His goal in life was gone. He'd wasted almost three years, living with a man he hated, to kill another man he hated. But someone had killed him first.

' _Now what do I do?'_ he wondered. He'd never thought much past killing Itachi, mostly because he didn't want to distract himself with the future, but also because he'd kind of expected that they'd die together. Now, he had his whole life ahead of him, and no idea what to do with it.

" Hey, Sasuke," Naruto started, but Sakura quickly stopped him.

" He'll need some time to think," Sakura whispered," Let's just leave alone. We'll talk to him in the morning."

Not hearing them, Sasuke went to his room to think and eventually fall asleep.

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Author's Notes: _Yeah, I forced myself to right this...not much to say about it... But you can expect the last chapter of this fic soon._

Disclaimer: I'm not Kishimoto. End of story.


	4. Chapter 4

"Sakura, don't worry. I'm sure Sasuke's fine."

Sakura tore her gaze away from Sasuke's bedroom door to look at Naruto. Her friend gave her a reassuring grin, then turned his attention back to the TV show he was watching.

However, his words failed to convince Sakura that Sasuke was all right. He had hardly left his room since learning of Itachi's death, and though the dark haired teen had never been a loud or energetic person, his quiet, solemn attitude worried Sakura.

So, with these thoughts in mind, she brought Sasuke's dinner to his room, prepared to talk to him about his depression.

She stood in front of his door, hesitating slightly before gently knocking on the wooden surface.

Silence.

She knocked again, louder this time, but still received no response. Grabbing the doorknob, she slowly opened the door and peeked inside.

Sasuke was not asleep, as Sakura had originally thought he was. Instead, he was standing in front of his window, staring blankly out at the star dotted sky.

"I brought you some dinner," Sakura said, holding out the plate in her hands.

Sasuke was silent.

Sighing, she placed his food on the bedside table, then walked over to his side.

"Sasuke?"

He blinked, but said nothing.

"Look, I know you're upset about Itachi, but that's no reason to lock yourself away in your room!"

Still no response.

"Sasuke, I'm really worried about you," Sakura said, a hint of desperation in her voice.

When he still gave no response, she sighed and began to walk away.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Sakura stopped mid-step. Sasuke had finally spoken, his voice soft and quiet.

"I planned everything around his death, spent my entire life trying to become strong enough to kill him… I thought I would die with him."

Sakura turned back toward him, listening intently as he spoke. When it seemed he had finished, she said, "But you're still alive. He's dead and you're alive."

"What am I supposed to do?" He repeated in a barely audible whisper. "Someone else accomplished my life's goal."

"You don't always need a goal to center your life around," she said quietly.

Sasuke looked at her, his expression blank and unreadable. They were silent, just staring at each other. Then, slowly, surely, the corners of Sasuke's lips pulled into a small smile.

"It's okay. I think I've already found a new goal."

Then he slowly leaned forward, gently placing those same lips to Sakura's forehead.

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Author's Notes: _Yeah, I rewrote the ending. The old one bothered me._

_Sorry if Sasuke seems really OOC at the end. It may be really cheesey, but I prefer it to the old ending. _

_Oh, an incase you're wondering, his goal is to love her. Yeah, uber lame. XP_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**


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